To amend section 4303.041 of the Revised Code to allow an A-3a liquor permit holder to annually sell a certain amount of spirituous liquor in sealed containers for off-premises consumption without entering into an agreement with the Division of Liquor Control to sell the spirituous liquor as an independent contractor as required under current law and to allow the permit holder to retain the mark-up value of the spirituous liquor sold under those circumstances.

Section 1.  That section 4303.041 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 4303.041.  (A) An A-3a permit may be issued to a distiller that manufactures less than ten thousand gallons of spirituous liquor per year. An A-3a permit holder may sell to a personal consumer, in sealed containers for consumption off the premises where manufactured, spirituous liquor that the permit holder manufactures, but sales to the personal consumer may occur only by an in-person transaction at the permit premises. The A-3a permit holder shall not ship, send, or use an H permit holder to deliver spirituous liquor to the personal consumer.

"Distiller" means a person in this state who mashes, ferments, distills, and ages spirituous liquor.

(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no A-3a permit shall be issued unless the sale of spirituous liquor by the glass for consumption on the premises or by the package for consumption off the premises is authorized in the election precinct in which the A-3a permit is proposed to be located.

(2) Division (B)(1) of this section does not prohibit the issuance of an A-3a permit to an applicant for such a permit who has filed an application with the division of liquor control before the effective date of this amendment March 22, 2012.

(C)(1) An A-3a permit holder may offer for sale tasting samples of spirituous liquor. The A-3a permit holder shall not serve more than four tasting samples of spirituous liquor per person per day. A tasting sample shall not exceed a quarter ounce. Tasting samples shall be only for the purpose of allowing a purchaser to determine, by tasting only, the quality and character of the spirituous liquor. The tasting samples shall be offered for sale in accordance with rules adopted by the division of liquor control.

(2) An A-3a permit holder shall sell not more than one and one-half liters of spirituous liquor per day from the permit premises to the same personal consumer.

An (D)(1) Except as provided in division (D)(2) of this section, an A-3a permit holder may sell spirituous liquor in sealed containers for consumption off the premises where manufactured as an independent contractor under agreement, by virtue of the permit, with the division of liquor control. The price at which the A-3a permit holder shall sell each spirituous liquor product to a personal consumer is to be determined by the division of liquor control. For an A-3a permit holder to purchase and then offer spirituous liquor for retail sale, the spirituous liquor need not first leave the physical possession of the A-3a permit holder to be so registered. The spirituous liquor that the A-3a permit holder buys from the division of liquor control shall be maintained in a separate area of the permit premises for sale to personal consumers. The A-3a permit holder shall sell such spirituous liquor in sealed containers for consumption off the premises where manufactured as an independent contractor by virtue of the permit issued by the division of liquor control, but the permit holder shall not be compensated as provided in division (A)(1) of section 4301.17 of the Revised Code. Each A-3a permit holder shall be subject to audit by the division of liquor control.

(D)(2) An A-3a permit holder in this state may sell not more than seven hundred fifty gallons per year of spirituous liquor in sealed containers for consumption off the premises where manufactured without entering into an agreement with the division of liquor control as an independent contractor. The retail price for any spirituous liquor sold pursuant to division (D)(2) of this section shall be the same as the retail price of any spirituous liquor sold pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section.

For each container of spirituous liquor sold pursuant to division (D)(2) of this section, the permit holder shall retain an amount equal to the permit holder's invoice price plus the difference between the invoice price per container and the retail price set by the division of liquor control for the sale of that same variety of spirituous liquor pursuant to division (B)(4) of section 4301.10 of the Revised Code minus all applicable taxes. The permit holder shall pay all applicable taxes on spirituous liquor sold at the permit premises; however, the division shall not collect any mark-up value that the division would otherwise be entitled to receive if the spirituous liquor were sold in an agency store.

(E) The fee for the A-3a permit is two dollars per fifty-gallon barrel.

(E)(F) The holder of an A-3a permit may also exercise the same privileges as the holder of an A-3 permit.

Section 2.  That existing section 4303.041 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.